There were no photographers present at the first flag raising on Iwo Jima. Later that same day the marines who raised the original flag went back up the mountain to replace it with a bigger one. This time they were accompanied by film and still photographers. So the famed Iwo Jima pose is actually a picture of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi - albeit done by the same men who raised the first one. While the film is not as well known as the iconic photo, it does confirm that the so-called "pose" was not staged for the cameras.

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